Another baseball season is in the books for the North Shore Twins.
By all accounts it was a successful season for the Twins, whose line-up featured four players from the Sunshine Coast.
Adam Pattison and Dave Moran suited up for the senior Twins while Gary Lamb and Mitch Rainer played for the junior Twins.
The senior Twins finished in third place at the B.C. Premier Baseball League provincials in August. The Twins edged the Fraser Valley Chiefs 3-1 on the final day of the tournament.
"Our pre-season objective was to make the playoffs and play .500 ball," said Twins manager John Haar. "We played a 44-34-1 season, made the playoffs, advanced to the final four and walked away with third place. I feel our program is set to improve as the years go on. We had a tough first half, but our play improved in the second half.
"We started to beat some teams at the end that early in the season we had difficulty with. I think the kids started to get excited and started feeling that we could beat and compete with any team in the league."
As for the Coast players, Haar said he was very impressed with their play. He also gave credit to Gibsons Minor Baseball for their coaching and development of the players.
"Adam didn't get to throw in Victoria for the playoffs unfortunately," said Haar. "We had three complete games and Adam was just the odd man out. He suffered through a couple of arm problems during the season, but he worked through that. He's a big, strong kid. His best pitch was a cut fastball and when he threw that for strikes he was effective. I think he has a lot of promise and he can excel at the higher levels."
Haar said he's encouraged Adam to consider Kwantlen College and their baseball program.
"I know he's looking at schools in California and Oregon, but personally I think he should stay here," Haar said. "If he plays in the B.C. college league, I think he could be successful there and it might translate into bigger and better things."
Moran played a partial season with the Twins. Trying to concentrate on school while traveling to the North Shore, proved to be two much for Moran and he left the team in mid-June.
"It's too bad that things didn't work out with us and Dave. He's a pretty good young catcher and I think he would have gotten a lot of playing time with us," said Haar. "In the time we did have him, he made some great improvements. I like him and his work ethic was solid. I understand the travel and that's one of the negatives of the Sunshine Coast. It's just too bad that good players from that area are suffering because they don't have an easier access to higher level baseball."
As for Lamb and Rainer, Haar saw both players in action during a tournament in Olympia, Wash. He was impressed by what he saw.
"Gary is a left handed catcher and a quality player that I feel has a good future with the Twins program," said Haar. "I think he can be a regular player in a year's time. Mitch is an infielder and will probably play second base for us. In talking with Dave Spears, our coach and Jordan Wilson, our assistant with the junior team, Mitch is fundamentally the best kid on their team. He's going to get stronger and his knowledge of the game will only improve.
"We started the junior program last year and revamped the program to get it affiliated with a provincial league. It gave the players more games, better competition and better coaching. I think both Mitch and Gary benefited from the program. We hope they're both back next year. With a significant number of players eligible to return, with some off-season acquisitions and the addition of some new rookies, we'll be looking to again improve both teams next year."
